The 1996–97
Asian Club Championship
The AFC Champions League (abbreviated as ACL) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's top-division football clubs. It is the most prestigious club competitio ...
was the 16th edition of the annual international club football competition held in the
AFC region (Asia). It determined that year's club champion of
association football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
in
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...
.
Pohang Steelers
The Pohang Steelers (Hangul: 포항 스틸러스) are a South Korean professional football club based in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province that compete in the K League 1, the top flight of South Korean football. The Steelers were founded on 1 A ...
of
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
won the final and became Asian champions for the first time after beating
Cheonan Ilhwa Chunma in the first ever Asian top club tournament that ended in a one-country final.
First round
West Asia
2 Al-Sharjah withdrew.
East Asia
1 The 2nd leg was cancelled due to political violence in Sri Lanka.
2 GD Artilheiros withdrew.
Second round
West Asia
East Asia
Quarterfinals
West Asia
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East Asia
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Semifinals
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Third place match
Final
Awards
References
Asian Club Competitions 1997at RSSSF.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:1996-97 Asian Club Championship
1996 in Asian football
1997 in Asian football
1996-97